House of Borgia

"Borgia" redirects here. For the Italian comune and town, see Borgia (CZ).

Cesare Borgia, alleged portrait by Altobello Melone. Bergamo.

Giovanni de Candia Borgia, called Giovanni Borgia 2nd Duke of Gandia.

St. Francis Borgia.

Juan Castellar y de Borja.

Pedro Luis de Borja Lanzol de Romaní.

The Borgias or Borjas were a Spanish-Italian noble family who became prominent during the Renaissance. They are remembered today for their corrupt rule when one of them was Pope. The Borgias have been accused of many different crimes, generally on considerable evidence, including adultery, simony, theft, rape, bribery, incest, and murder (especially murder by poison).

Coat of Arms of the House of Borgia.

Rodrigo, a cunning intriguer, was elected Pope in 1492, taking the name Alexander VI. He had several acknowledged children, of which Lucrezia and Cesare were best known.

Cesare, with his father's backing, tried to become the ruler of Italy. But in 1503, Pope Alexander died suddenly. (It was said that he and Cesare accidentally drank a bottle of their own poisoned wine, although malarial fever, which was spreading through Rome at the time, has also been suggested.) Cesare's intrigues collapsed, and he went off to Spain.

Lucrezia was also rumored to be a notorious poisoner, though later historians started to consider her more a victim of the family's plots. She married three times, and after the fall of her father and brother, remained the respected consort of the Duke of Ferrara.

Saint Francis Borgia was a grandson of Rodrigo through another son, Giovanni. After a career in the service of the kings of Spain, he entered the priesthood and became a Jesuit. He eventually rose to be the third Father General of the order.

Members of the family

• Alfonso de Borja (Pope Calixtus III)
• Cesare Borgia
• Saint Francis Borgia
• Gaspar de Borja y Velasco
• Gioffre Borgia
• Giovanni Borgia (1474)
• Giovanni Borgia (1498)
• Lucrezia Borgia
• Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI)

In popular culture

The Borgias were infamous in their time, and their lurid career has inspired numerous novels, plays, operas, and films. References to the Borgias in popular culture are numerous.

Novels

• Prince of Foxes (1947) by Samuel Shellabarger
• The Shame of Motley by Raphael Sabatini
• The Family by Mario Puzo
• Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire
• The Borgia Testament by Nigel Balchin
• The Antipope by Robert Rankin
• Borgia, the novel of a family by Klabund
• The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis
• The Medici Seal by Theresa Breslin
• De scharlaken stad (The Scarlet City; 1952) by Hella Haasse
• Borja Papa (The Borgia Pope), by Joan Francesc Mira, is a fictional autobiography of Alexander VI.
• Summer of Night (1992) by Dan Simmons
• City of God (1979) by Cecelia Holland
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, père

Graphic Novels

• I Borgia: La conquista del papato (Borgia 1: Blood for the Pope; 2004) by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Milo Manara
• I Borgia: Il potere e l'incesto (Borgia 2: Power and Incest; 2006) by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Milo Manara
• I Borgia: III Le fiamme del rogo (Borgia 3: The Flames of the Pyre; 2008) by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Milo Manara
• Cantarella by You Higuri (manga)
• Cesare by Souryo Fuyumi (manga)

Plays

• Lucrezia Borgia, by Victor Hugo
• The Tyrant: An Episode in the Career of Cesare Borgia, a Play in Four Acts (1925), by Raphael Sabatini
• The Memory of Water, by Shelagh Stephenson

Operas

• Lucrezia Borgia (1833), by Gaetano Donizetti

Films

• Prince of Foxes (1949), starring Orson Welles
• [Los Borgia] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (2006)
• The Borgias (1981), BBC miniseries
• Contes immoraux, a film by Walerian Borowczyk.

Businesses

• Cafe Borgia in Munster, Indiana

Video Games

• Assassin's Creed II (2009), Ubisoft

Television

• History Bites episode The Osborgias (depicts the family in the style of The Osbournes)

• Frasier episode "Dark Victory," from the third season.

• French premium-pay TV Canal Plus, Lagardère Entertainment, and EOS Entertainment are working on the production of a Mini-series about the rise of the Borgia dynasty since early 2009. Written by Tom Fontana (Oz, Homicide,...), "The Borgias" will follow the famous crime family through its reign of terror at the Vatican at the turn of the 16th century when Rodrigo Borgia was pope. The series will be shot in English from May to December of 2010 in either Italy or in Spain for a January 2011 delivery. The 12-episode, 50-minute series will be made on a budget of €30 million ($44 million).

• The Walt Disney movies The Shaggy Dog and its sequel The Shaggy D.A.; have a ring once owned by Lucretia Borgia playing a significant role in their storylines.

• In January 2010, American premium pay TV Showtime has announced the order of ten episodes of an historical drama based on the Borgia family. Oscar winner Jeremy Irons will play Rodrigo Borgia, and Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, The Tudors) will direct. The network plans a spring 2011 premiere.